Review of Argo (2012) by Dan F — 12 Dec 2013

I've seen this film accused of jingoism, and while it does little to humanise the Iranians above a threat to our American protagonists, it does nothing to vilify them either- in fact, it justifies their actions in a brief prologue (or at least, the rationale behind those actions, and not really defending America's part in it in the slightest).

It doesn't show the USA as a superior force, either- there's no nationalist elitism here but the film is of course very one sided, more interested in the period style thriller than historical accuracy.

Probably then, like every other cinematic historical reenactment ever committed to film. The only mean spirited elitism stems from some arrogant critics and holier than thou self righteous types who probably don't like the genre in the first place.

This is a well made 70s thriller that goes to painstaking efforts to look and feel like a film made in that decade, which may even go someway to explain it's one sided nature.